The Future of television Shows

Sandals

So with the anouncment that Dsiney and Anc are going to release legal free downloads of tv shows, from abc.com, what does this mean for the future of television, great things I hope.



I am not referring to HDTV, please don't mention it.

monomaniac

Channel 4 is putting season 1 of lost and season 2 eps as they are shown and best of all... they are available to the ROI!

http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/L/lost/

The first 2 eps are available free once you register (just need username, password and email address - don't even need to wait for confirmation mail).

Anyway back on topic: in terms of the future of TV I can see this happening more and more.
I wonder will the big American television networks eventually cut out the middle man (in this case C4) and sell the shows straight to the people around the world.
The point I'm getting at is that at the moment C4 won't release any eps of season 2 Lost till they've been shown on TV - so essentially it's like paying 99c because you forgot to tape the episode.

If the film and television industry want to reduce piracy they should start by making their shows/films available to everyone at the same time and in the best quality possible.
Personally I'd be willing to pay up to around 5 euro to be able to get the latest episode of lost each week legally (provided it was delivered quickly and in high quality).

I don't want this to turn into an argument about piracy but I'd be interested in what other people think.

Mossy Monk

i dont like how it is a 24 hour thing. screw that

ixoy

If the film and television industry want to reduce piracy they should start by making their shows/films available to everyone at the same time and in the best quality possible.

OK but if you go down that route, you have to take up the US scheduling model. Are you prepared to wait for a month without a new episode of your favourite show? The model we employ let's us get a much better uninterrupted run - take "Desperate Housewives". We started off months behind the US and are now only 2.5 weeks behind...

You could try and ask for a re-organisation of the US model but I don't see it happening. By filling the gaps between new episodes with old, they lower the need to create new episodes of TV shows or replace them with different shows. It's probably more cost-effective, plus they'll trap some fans who'll watch repeats of loyalty or who missed it first time around.

Yes, I know some shows work outside this thinking - '24' being the most obvious - but I'm not sure how studios would cope with everyone doing that.

Personally I'd be willing to pay up to around 5 euro to be able to get the latest episode of lost each week legally (provided it was delivered quickly and in high quality).

Do you mean 5 euro a week? Because that's insanely expensive - approximately 120 quid for a season of a show without the permanence of DVD or the extras. And using that model for all your shows would break all your budgets.

The current iTunes model is a little better - somewhere up to $2 for an episode of a show that was transmitted the night before. It could, and should, be expanded to provide cheaper packages for those looking to subscribe for a season of a show, etc. Then I might be interested (provided, of course, we could get it in AVI format and not just Apple's proprietary format).

monomaniac

Ok - I maybe didn't think about that 5 euro quote properly I thnk the current eps of season 10 south park are available for about $10 (for 6).

These shows are only available on ITunes in the US right? Also, what is the quality like?

The scheduling doesn't bother me to much - most of the US shows that start in Sept eventually make their way onto our screens Jan/Feb at the earliest. I personally wouldn't be prepared to wait 5 months when they've already been shown in the US - plenty of people would and do!

More and more films (and DVDs) are getting worldwide releases and I think television shows should follow suite - though I don't see this happening anytime soon unfortunately.

Sandals

But looking more forward into the future do you see teh demise of Rte etc.

Sandals

But looking more forward into the future do you see the demise of Rte etc.

Telefís

As difficult as it is for many to believe, the be all and end all of the medium that is television is not American 'shows'. Other programmes do exist, some even made outside of the US, and incredibly, even relating to real life! :eek:

On that basis, I think television has just a bit of life in it yet.

Skyuser

But you're missing the point. These will be available for download once they air on tv. So tv will always be the first plce people go to watch it.